


Paranoia and where it takes you

by tyuoi



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: M/M, literally just Eren fucking things up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 15:51:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3416567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tyuoi/pseuds/tyuoi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Eren is walking home alone when he assaults someone he is convinced is his stalker.<br/>The “I was trying to ask for directions and you accidentally pepper sprayed me cause you thought I was your stalker" prompt.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Paranoia and where it takes you

Eren shoved his hands in his pocket and let out an elongated sigh. Winter was impossibly cold this time of year and he had forgotten to buy a thicker jacket _again._ He was probably a sight to see—a teenage boy walking through Manhattan snow, his scarf covering half his face as he attempted to jump around muddy snow puddles.

He should have just accepted the ride from Marco, but being stuck in a car with Jean and Marco bickering like an old married couple didn’t sound too appealing at the time. Plus, hanging around Horseface would seriously damage his reputation. Not that he had much of one anyway, but hey you have to maintain what little you got, right?

Eren looked both ways before crossing the street… _no cars._ He started crossing it—well, more like skating across it because his vans weren’t proper winter shoes, but he really didn’t have time to buy seasonal coordinating footwear.

There was a loud screeching of someone slamming on the breaks of their car, their headlights shining brightly on Eren’s silhouette. Eren let out a yelp and step-sided trying to get away from the asshole that had almost ran him over, and ended up stepping right into and ankle-deep puddle of slush.

Eren groaned dramatically and turned to the car and the driver who was currently yelling at him to get out of the middle of the road.

“Go fuck yourself!” Eren stomped angrily towards the other side of the street, muttering profanities under his breath along the way.

He looked down at his one soaked leg. Mikasa was going to pitch a fit when she saw this; Eren could see her face now. He looked over at another huge puddle and grinned deviously. Might as well even them out.

He jumped into the lake-sized puddle giggling like a six year old. He was wet. Really, really wet and it had started snowing again. White crystals coated Eren’s mess of hair. He looked up and stuck his tongue out.

The sky was dark but lit in a strange way by the fluttering snowflakes making their descent.

There was a loud crunch of someone stepping in icy snow behind him. He turned around and was about to step aside, worried that he was in someone’s way—he was in the middle of the sidewalk—but there was no one there.

Eren frowned maybe he had imagined it. He shook it off and started walking back in the right direction to his and Armin’s apartment.

He thought about putting earphones in to listen to music but rejected the idea thinking that then he wouldn't be able to hear anything happening around him. What if someone snuck up on him and tried to shank him? He’d heard about that happening a lot recently. Or with a more realistic thought: what if another car swerved into him? He already had trouble not getting run over without having his hearing disabled.

Eren tangled his fingers around the earphone cords. He just really didn’t want to die in some freak accident tonight. Maybe some other night when he was ancient and having his mid-life crisis because his partner left him for their secretary or something.

But right now he’d rather have Mr. Higher Power keep him alive for a bit longer. His life was good. Better than ever before, and he really didn’t want to screw it up, which is why he was trying to store his paranoia away so it would stop intervening with his day to day life. Having the irrational fear of dying or being killed was really troublesome especially when you lived in such a big city.

But how could you blame him; both of his parents had died in completely unrelated freak accidents. Eren sometimes wondered if he was cursed with having his loved ones die.

He shook his head hoping to rid of the thoughts. _No, this is exactly what I’m trying to stop doing. Just shut up Jaeger and walk home like a normal bastard._

His phone buzzed in his pocket, retrieving him from his thoughts. He fished in his pockets—the seams of them had broken so everything he put in them ended up falling into the abyss of jacket material. Hey, at least he more space to store shit in. It was like the motherfucking Mary Poppins bag in there.

He took it out and looked at the dim screen.

**Armin:**

_I’m going over to Sasha’s. She’s having some sort of meltdown, probably about food, and she wants me to… console her? I’ll see you at mid-night… I hope XD_

It was eight now. Eren typed a quick reply back, but ended up messing it up when he heard another sound behind him.

Eren laughed nervously to himself. “It’s nothing, Eren, just the wind.” He murmured to himself. _Yeah, just the wind not some creepy stalker who wants to harvest your organs and feed them to their restaurant customers._

Okay, this was ridiculous. He was already inserting himself into the plot of Sweeney Todd. He kept walking forward completely blocking the sounds of foot steps behind him.

Eren grinded his teeth every time the person took another step.  He screwed his eyes shut which was unbelievably stupid because if someone really was trying to kidnap him having your eyes closed is not really step number one of evading your death.

And then they stopped. They stopped. No more footsteps and that’s when Eren lost it. He fished inside his Mary Poppins bag/pocket and took out his pepper spray—why did he have one? Not because he was completely insane or anything.

He turned around, holding the spray at arm’s length. Nothing. Well, if there was anything he was sure he wouldn’t be able to hear it over the thumping of his heart. _Wouldn’t it just be hilarious if I died of a heart attack and not the looming death I believe to be over me?_

Eren blinked through the snow. Was that a person? Eren’s eyed widened. It was. And _IT_ was walking towards him.

_HoLy motherfuckin god. iT’s going to kill me._

“Hey kid, do you know how to get to—

Eren squinted his eyes shut and squeezed the spray’s trigger.

There was a loud groan that filled the air. BINGO. Eren had a moment of giddiness before it started to die down. The person was cussing now and bent over, clearly in pain.

“Fucking God! What the fuck is wrong with you asshole!” The man rubbed at his eyes, hissing in agony.

_Oh shit. He isn’t my stalker is he?_

Eren started backing away. _What have I done?! Does he need medical attention? Did I just make some innocent stranger blind??!_

There was a loud clank as the spray-bottle fell out of Eren’s trembling hands. He rushed forward to the man and started fretting over him.

“I’m so, so sorry!” There were tears that welled in Eren’s eyes and his voice came out croaky and broken. “I thought you were someone else.”

“Who? The fucking mafia!?” The stranger yelled angrily. "I wanted some fucking directions, idiot!" The man flailed his arms.

“I u-uh. Where’s your house? Let me take you there.” Eren offered. He grabbed the strangers arm.

“I have no fucking clue since I can’t fucking see you piece of shit!!!” The man started hobbling backwards as he scratched as his face ferociously.

“Okay, okay. I’m taking you to my place.” Eren grabbed the man’s hand. “Please, take my hand, let me help you. I’m so fucking sorry.”

The man grunted and gripped Eren’s hand. Eren started rushing over to his apartment; at least it was pretty close now.

He looked at his phone searching Google for ways to ease the pain of this poor man. They both stumbled through the dark, and when Eren looked back at him, his face illuminated by a streetlamp he noticed the man still was clinging to his face with tears streaming down his cheeks in cascades. One of Eren’s heartstrings plucked painfully at the sight.

The guilt he felt was life-crushing.

Eren looked ahead; they were close just a few more buildings down and they’d be…here!

Eren fumbled to open the door and he rushed the man up the complex’s stairs and into his apartment. He ran them into the bathroom and turned the sink on.

“Wash your eyes out.” Eren told the man. The raven haired man bent over and scrubbed at his eyes.

Eren grabbed his hands to stop his movements. He didn’t want him to damage his eyes further. The man tightened his hold on Eren’s hands, making their fingers intertwine. Eren hunched awkwardly over him.

“I’m so sorry, I’m so, so sorry.” Eren continued to whispers his apologies to the stranger, not noticing that he too was crying.

The man’s breathing started to level out and he had stopped letting out pained complaints.

“Towel.” The man commanded and Eren rushed to fulfill it. He was tugged back from the man and his hand still clamped together. He wouldn’t let go so Eren stretched his body and grabbed the nearest towel with his free hand.

He pawed at the man’s stiff shoulder, signaling him to turn around.

Eren’s breath hitched. _Goddamn it. You just had to assault someone and he happened to be fucking gorgeous._

Eren patted gently at the man’s ivory skin. The flesh around his closed eyes was red and irritated and Eren frowned at this.

He pulled at their enclosed hands and settled him into the living rooms couch.

“I’m going to get some ice.” The man scowled but let go of Eren. When he returned he placed the ice pack over the raven’s eyes and took one of his hands and rested it over the ice pack so he would hold it in place. He ran to the bathroom and searched his cabinets for eye drops. Thank God he wore contacts.

He found the right ones and hurried over to the living room. The man was still there, holding the ice pack to his face. Strands of his onyx hair clung to his face; they had gotten wet in the sink. Eren sat the eye drops on the table next to the couch and ran to his room to get a blanket.

When he returned he tried to take the man’s coat off, but the guy literally growled at him.

“Your clothes are wet. I’ll dry your jacket, and you can have a blanket. Please.” Eren pleaded. The man obliged and Eren shrugged his coat off and placed the blanket over his shoulders.

He did just as he promised and placed the coat in the dryer.

He knelt in front of the man and gently took the ice pack off his face. Eren placed his hands hesitantly on the man’s face, scared he might get yelled at but he didn't. He tilted his head back and got up to lean over him.

“Can you open your eyes?”

The man sighed and cracked a red eye open. Eren dropped the liquid in the eye. “Does it feel better?”

He heard no complaint from him so Eren did the same to the other and then again to both. When he had practically used half the bottle, he put it down, and tilted the man’s face down.

Eren held his face, thumbing at the shape of his eyes trying to offer as much comfort as he could.

“I’m so sorry.”

The man opened his eyes; they were still pink and irritated but were no longer swollen and seemed better. Eren smiled triumphantly.

The man stared at him with beautiful gunmetal grey eyes and leaned into Eren’s touch.

And that’s when Eren knew, he _knew,_ he was done for.

Eren grinned. _Thank you paranoia—for once you did something good._

**Author's Note:**

> If you noticed that I always make Eren live in New York its because I live here and I like to complain about the weather through my writing


End file.
